Well-screen.



PATENTED Nov. 21, 1905. M. E. LAYNE. A

WELL SCREEN.

nuifrnn sriawnnr ornion.

e MAHLoN E. LAYNE, or HoUsToN, TEXAs.

WELL-SCREEN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 21, 1905.

Application filed June 25, 1903. Renewed January 3, 1905. Serial No.239,426.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MAHLON E. LAYNE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas, haveinvented a certain new and useful Well- Screen, of which the followingis a specifi cation.

My invention relates especially to Well apparatus or to means forstraining liquids admitted to inlet pipes such as commonly employed indriven wells; and particularly to the construction of the sand screensused in wells. The objects of my invention are, to provide a superiorform of wire adapted for making well screens and being of a sectionalshape to give great strengthvand to insure the screen againstv beingclogged by dirt; to provide a cheap and superior construction ofskeleton frame for supporting suoli a wire screen; to provide a superiormethod of fixing the wire upon the frame of the screen and to generallyimprove the efficiency and strength, and cheapen the construction ofwell screens. The said objects, together with other advantages whichwill hereinafter appear, I attain by means of the constructionillustrated in prey ferred form in the accompanying drawings,

wherein,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of' an improved form of skeleton framefor supporting the screen.

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through my improved wellscreen built upon theA frame of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end view of the skeleton frame and the screen.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 represent cross sections through the wire as wound onthe frame and showing the wire in three diiferent stages in the improvedmode of fixing the same in place.

Figure 7 illustrates a modified form of connecting the edges ofcontiguous strands of the wire@l Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspectiveview showing a well screen formed of my superior wire and fixed in placeon a frame by my peculiar mode of interlacing the touching edges of thehelix of wire, as will be hereinafter described; and

Figure 9 is a modified form of wire having edges easier to depress,shown mounted on a perforated pipe.

As is well known it is common in driven wells and other places where itis desirable to take water into a pipe from a loose material such asstrata of sand or gravel, to use on the end of the pipe a screen orstructure provided with small openings to stop the solid matter andallow the water to go through. It is customary to make such screens bywinding wire either upon a frame or upon a perforated pipe. It isnecessary in order that the particles of solid matter may not wedgethemselves in the openings between the windings of the wire, to use awire of such cross sectional form that the openings are narrowest at theoutside surface and enlarge toward the interior of the screen. It isalso highly desirable that the frame upon which the screen is held be.extremely solid and strong and at the same time take up as little roomas possible.

In my preferred form of skeleton frame A as shown in Figure 1, I use aseries of rings 9 which are provided with radially extending lugs 11formed of such shape as to take in the bars 10, whereupon the lugs 11may be battered down to clinch upon the rods and hold them firmly inposition. The skeleton A is for the purpose of supporting the wires forming the screen as shown in end view at Figure 3. Upon this frame maybe wound any desired form of wire, but I prefer the form shown in crosssection at Figure 4, which is essentially a truncated pyramid having thewider part outside, so that the spaces between the adjacent turns ofwire are narrower atthe outside and grow larger toward the inner side,

so that any particles of solid matter passing through the outside edgeswill freely iiow through the pipe and not clog the opening.

This wire I preferably wind tightly upon the frame A so that thesuccessive turns leave parallel slits between them as shown in Figureping of the depressed edges of the wire on the two sides of it, as willbe clear from Figure 8. Otherwise, the portions of the wire immediatelyabove the support 10 may be battered down or depressed equally upon allthe turns so that they will all just touch each other at intervals asshown in Figure 7. It will be understood that it is necessary to depressthe wires so as to make them come in contact withy each other only atlengthened intervals, sufficient to lock them together and hold themrmly against lateral displacement.

IOO

IIO

, It will be seen that by the peculiar alternate overlapping arrangementas shown in Figure 8 the successive turns of the wire are reallyinterlaced and interlocked with each other so that they may not moveeither laterally or radially to the frame upon which they rest.

It is evident that' the same form of wire may be used upon any desiredframe or support, such for example as the ordinaryperforated pipe asshown in Figure 9, or a frame formed of a series of bars riveted uponinterior rings such as shown in my former application, No. 138,217, orany other form of support. The wire is of peculiar advantage on suchsupports as shown in Figure 9, because it provides for a full and freeunderflow over the surface of the support between the wires and in thedirection of the length of the wire thereby avoiding cutting of the wireby the sand and supplying ample room for a slower flow and avoidingclogging as the fiuid passes in from the outer slits to the opening inthe perforated pipe. In such cases it will be understood that thesetting of the wire edgewise on the support, or making the wire muchdeeper than it is wide, as shown in Figure 9, not only gives additionalstrength and capacity perinch on the screen surface, but provides ampleroom for the flow whether it is directly through the opening'in thepipe, or indirectly along the surface between the wires to reach theopening. It is also evident that the interlocking feature of the wires,and the peculiar form of the frame shown may be used with any desiredkind of wire. The common triangular wire may be used in building thescreen when the peculiar method of attaching the edges thereof after themanner of -Figure 6 or 7 is employed, so as to hold the wires in`upright position upon their support, and it is not necessary to providegrooves in the support. And while it is evident that the wires may bearranged as in Figure 4L and soldered in place upon the rods l0, Iprefer it as much safer and cheaper and more durable to lix them inplace by hammering them down as heretofore described. The superiorscreen shown may be built entirely without either rivets or solder. Itwill be understood that ink many deep wells, such as oil wells, wherethe detritus or solid matter in the liquid is very line, and thepressure upon the liquid is very heavy due to gas or the great depth ofthe well, it is ordinarily very difficult to make a wire screen withsufficiently fine openings, and sufciently strong to withstand thepressure without distortion. For this reason I regard the form of wireas illustrated in Figures I and 9, as of great importance because it isvery sti, and allows of the openings placed closed together and at thesame time has a substantial base to withstand pressure against thesupports underneath. The form of Figure 9 is at the same time economicalof metal and rigid. Moreover, the

depressed center or grooved fo'rm of the outer face of the wire makesthe depression of the parts to form the lugs easy, and also makes abetter screening wall of the wire, since the grooved surface morereadily catches sand, and aids in arching of detritus over the opening'without clogging. Many other advantages of this device will readilyoccur to those familiar with the art.

I-Iaving thus described my invention and illustrated its use what Iclaim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is thefollowing:

l. A skeleton frame for a well screen formed of a series of rings havingpairs of projecting lugs thereon, bars lying between said lugs andclinched in place by bending down the lugs.

2. A well screen eomprisinga frame formed of a series of rings withpairs of lugs at intervals thereon, a series of bars lying upon saidrings and clinched within said lugs, and a series of wires wound uponthe outside of said frame and being of cross sectional form wider at theo uter side than the inner side.

3. A well screen comprising a frame-having a wire spirally wound thereonwith wedgeshaped openings vbetween successive turns of the wire, saidwire being of a cross sectional form of a truncated pyramid, and havingthereon means to lock successive turns together, substantially asdescribed.

4c. A Well screen comprising a skeleton frame, a series of turns of wirewrapped upon said frame so as to leave openings between successive turnsthereof, and the said turns of wire being depressed and spread to toucheach other atintervals along their length, substantially as described.

5. In a well screen a helix of wire having open spaces between turns, aseries of lateral projecting portions along said wires to engage theadjacent turns, said lateral projections alternately lying above andbeneath similar projections upon the next adjacent turns of wire on thetwo sides, substantially as described. l

6. A well screen com prising a frame, a helix of wire thereon, the saidhelix of wire having portions thereof depressed or flattened on theouter edges so that said depressed portions touch the contiguous wiresand hold the wires in parallel position, substantially as described.

7. A wire for forming well screens having atintervals along its lengthlateral upset projections, to engage similar projections upon the outeredges of contiguous turns of the wire, for the purpose set forth.

8. In a well screen a wire having along its length occasionallaterallyprojecting lugs to engage contiguous wires in the screen,alternate ones of said lugs being depressed on the outside surface lowerthan the adjacent lugs, substantially as described.

9. In a well screen the combination with a IOO supporting frame, of a'series of helical turns of wire, said wire having a broadened faceoutermost and laterally projecting upset depressed portions at intervalsalong said outer face to engage contiguous wires, substantially asdescribed.

10. In a well screen, the combination with 4a supporting frame, of ascreening surface of wire having a depression on the outer face betweenthe edges of the wire.

13. A wire for well screens having a depressed longitudinal groove inits outer face, substantially as described.

14. A well screen comprising a supporting structureand a screeningsurface formed of turns of band-shaped wire spaced apart and having oneedge thinner than the other, the said wire being wound edgewise on saidsupporting structure and forming an underflow chamber between adjacentportions of the Wire and the supporting structure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunder signed my name in the presence ofthe two subscribed witnesses.

MAHLON E. LAYNE.

Vitnesses:

C. J. MILLER, MABEL. NoRToN.

